Women's Track & Field Performs Well at Terrier Invitational

BOSTON, Mass. &ndash; The MIT women's track and field team posted several impressive individual performances Friday night at the Boston University Terrier Invitational, including two varsity and two freshman records in the indoor arena.

Jacqui Wentz set a new varsity record in the 5000 meters, becoming the first runner in the country to qualify for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship, with a time of 17:05.20. Also in the 5000, freshman Margaret Lloyd reached a new personal best of 18:43.68. Four Engineers, including Anna Holt-Gosselin and Jennifer Doyle in addition to Wentz and Lloyd, placed in the top 33 of the event. Another freshman, Katherine Eve, raced to a personal record of 5:14.26 in the mile, the fourth best time in MIT history.

Portia Jones had a very impressive showing in the 200m, breaking the MIT freshman and varsity records with a time of 26.28 seconds. Jones had the second fastest time among Division III runners in the meet. In the 400 meters, Martha Gross became the new freshman record holder, finishing in 61.65.

The only women to compete in the field events were the pole-vaulters, three of whom had very strong performances. Hazel Briner cleared 10' for a new personal best while Emily Hwang and Karin Fisher each vaulted 10' 6'', good for a share of 11th place.

MIT will travel to Brunswick, Maine next Saturday to compete against Bowdoin, Colby, Springfield and Tufts.